How would you feel if you find yourself dancing in the snowfall on one fine morning with your loved ones? This would certainly feel like living the most craved filmy scene. A huge number of people love the winter season only because of this snowfall and ice.
Walking, jumping or dancing in a snowy place is enjoyable, but one careless step in the snow can result in a big accident by occurring catastrophic injuries.
Accidents like slip and fall are very common in snowy places, but finding out whom to hold liable for this accident is challenging. Let’s look at some points that can clear out whom to hold liable for such cases.
The Private Property Owner
A property owner must take care of their property and take all the necessary precautions to avoid any harm from it. Different states follow different snow removal rules.
In some state, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to remove the snow from his home area, including the sidewalk in front of his home. If you are not cleaning out those snow ice in your home area and accidentally anybody gets injured due to those ice, you will be held liable for the injury legally.
There are so many agencies that particularly works for snow removal, and you can contact them if you feel it challenging to do it by yourself. Expect home area, and there are so many private parks and private places.
If any occurrence happens in those private areas due to negligence regarding snow and ice cleaning, the property owner will be held liable for the accident. If the claim is strong enough, the owner may have to pay a big amount of compensation, or he may get punished lawfully.
At workplace
Many people get injured in slip & fall cases in their workplace but are unsure if they have any rights to claim compensation.
So, when you are hurt at your workplace, it becomes your employer’s and the company’s responsibility to cover your economic and non-economic damages. According to the expert attorneys at hansfordlawfirm.com/macon/ every individual is entitled to claim financial compensation for the injuries suffered due to workplace accidents.
The company must ensure that it provides a safe working environment for its employees. However, if they fail to do so and somebody gets injured, they must compensate for the damages. Discuss your case with the attorneys and file for compensation at the earliest to exercise your rights.
Government Agency
If a slip and fall accident happens in a public place that a government agency controls, people may get confused about moving forward to take legal action.
Accident in such places like a parking lot, government building indicates the negligence of the government officer of that particular area.
But taking legal action against any government agency or public officer is not as easy as taking legal action against a private property owner.
They got sovereign immunity which sets them free from any civil liability. So, it is very clear that you will have to face so many limitations to get justice in such cases.
Careless Movement of the Victim
Walking in the snow or ice may look very romantic in movies, but it is hazardous and slippery in reality. Carelessly walking or jumping on ice is never out of danger.
So many slip and fall accidents happen every year due to this comparative negligence of the victim. If the accident happened due to your irresponsibility or carelessness, you can’t blame others for this accident.
Knowing yourself guilty for the accident, taking any legal action to prove someone else liable for the accident may result in a big punishment for you. Cases where the victim himself is liable for the accident, do not get any compensation for their damages.
A Third Party
Some so many people are not even aware that they can sue after a slip and fall on ice. Except for the above three points, a third party can also be held liable for slip and fall accident on snow and ice.
The term third party indicates intentional accidents or the carelessness of someone who is neither a private property owner nor a public officer or any government agency.
If someone intentionally pushes you on the ice to harm you, that person would surely be liable for this accident. But here, in this type of case, if you want to take any legal action, you have to have enough evidence to prove the claim.
If a slip and fall accident occurs in a private place, the property owner will be held liable for the accident, but a third party can also be liable for the accident.
For example, the private park owner is giving salary to some workers every month to take care of the ice or snow cleaning issues, but they showed negligence to perform their duties properly.
Here we can’t ignore the negligence of the workers who failed to ensure the precautions to avoid such accidents.
Final verdict
Taking necessary precautions to avoid slip and fall accidents in a snowy place and ice is much more important than learning about whom to hold liable for this type of accident. Being a little more careful at the time of enjoying snowfall can save you from big harm.
